Stress Management How To Tell If You Need It

If you have ever asked this question to yourself, it means that you definitely need stress management!

Personally I would advise you to practice a regular stress management program whether you are over stressed or not. This is because a daily relaxation session will help you feel refreshed and keep you recharged throughout the day and also improve your performance potential at work and at home.

Ideally everyone should practice regular relaxation techniques. Not only is it important from the point of view of prevention of stress induced disorders, but for those already suffering from one or the other stress related diseases, it is mandatory also.

There is a simple way to recognize your stress status and your need for stress management program.

When you are faced with any situation, pause for a few moments to analyze your reaction/response during the event and after the event. Did you suffer from any of the following?

Palpitations, restlessness, anxiety of no identified cause, anger, tightness in your muscles, headaches, irritability, feeling a bit burnt out and general uneasiness and edginess. All of these categories may indicate you have unresolved or unmanaged stress levels.

If you have admitted to suffering from any of these, you simply must engage in a relaxation program. You need stress management techniques. It is as simple as that!

Relaxation programs can be easily learnt and acquired and once learnt can be a very valuable tool in your stress management

routine. Consistent relaxation over time will allow you to relax at will in stress and anxiety provoking situations. Common techniques include lying down and progressively tensing each muscle group in your body and then relaxing each one in turn.

This is fairly effective but often does not go deep enough or far enough. Imagine if you could literally switch off the stress producing areas in your brain that are responsible for you feeling overwhelmed in the first place.

Understanding how stress builds up and seeps into us gradually in the first place is crucial to acquiring the skill to turn your stress thermostat down again to manageable levels.

The main anxiety producing areas are in the reptilian part of the brain and the limbic system. The structures known as the thalamus and the hypothalamus and the pituitary glands play the major part in recognizing stress and then they send signals to your adrenal glands which in turn secrete adrenaline and cortisol into your bloodstream. Indeed your l blood cortisol
levels paint an accurate picture of how much stress a person is in.

Being aware of where these specific structures are located in the brain is the first step to being able to learn how to turn them off or turn them down. Then we can utilize a simple visualization method to systematically switch off each parts reaction and response making you feel deeply relaxed and very, very calm.

You might like to visit the authors link to discover exactly how to do this technique

About The Author-- Lee James Heather is a therapist specializing in anxiety based problems and teaches clients stress management. His approach is to show clients how to 'switch off' the brain stress centers which permits very deep relaxation. http://www.anxietycoach.com.au/relaxation_technique.html

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